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Tuesday, January 8, 2019

[CLOSURE ALERT] Au Bon Pain in Peachtree Center to Close

Bakery cafe Au Bon Pain informed customers by email Tuesday that their location in the mall at Peachtree Center in downtown Atlanta will close permanently this Friday, January 11. The roughly 2,000 square foot restaurant opened in 2014 and marked the return of the brand to the area. Au Bon Pain closed their locations at Atlantic Station and Allen Plaza in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

The closure, after the new year, is a bit odd, considering The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market got underway today at AmericasMart and lasts until next Tuesday, January 15. Additionally, Super Bowl LIII will take place early next month and will bring tens of thousands of visitors to downtown Atlanta for the days leading up to the big game. Au Bon Pain will continue to operate its 24 hour location within Piedmont Hospital in Buckhead.

Purchased in late 2017 by JAB Holding Co., the same Austrian firm that owns Panera Bread, Krispy Kreme, and Einstein's Bagels, among others, Au Bon Pain announced plans last year to sublease/close about 40 Au Bon Pain restaurants. The Peachtree Center location was among those being marketed for sublease. Among the other 36 locations being marketed for sublease were those in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and Chicago, among others.

Despite the fact that the restaurant in the mall at Peachtree Center (now being called The Hub at Peachtree Center) is due to close Friday, no replacement tenant has been signed. That said, sources close to the project indicate there are "several interested groups for the space."

Peachtree Center is going through a significant renovation and transformation that will see the addition of new public space, additional restaurants and retailers, and other updates. Recent openings in the project include Salata, a salad eatery, and Beni's Cubano, a casual Cuban eatery from the team behind Tin Lizzy's Cantina. Late last year, Benihana, a popular hibachi restaurant that had operated on the lower level of the project along Peachtree Center Avenue for more than two decades, closed without notice, and remains vacant today.

What would you like to see open in place of Au Bon Pain at Peachtree Center? Are you a fan of the changes being made at Peachtree Center? What is your favorite downtown Atlanta eatery?